Viral virulence is the result of a number of aspects of virus biology including intrinsic growth rates, transmissibility, cell tropism, and tissue tropism. In addition, viruses face significant hurdles when confronted first by the innate immune response and then by adaptive immunity. In response, viruses have a number of strategies for inhibiting immune activation or for blocking the effectors used by the immune system to combat infection. The contributions of immune evasion have been recognized for many years, but only have been analyzed in mechanistic detail in the past decade. This has led to a significant increase in understanding of viral immune evasion over the past decade. The ASM Conference on Viral Immune Evasion is designed to bring the top researchers in the world on mechanisms of viral immune evasion together to share information in this rapidly advancing area. We have the following specific aims: Specific Aim 1: Create a community of scholars that share an interest in viral immune evasion. As many of the investigators invited to the conference work in different viral systems and therefore do not attend the same meetings, the schedule and speaker selection is designed to create a new grouping of investigators and trainees that share a common interest in viral immune evasion. Specific Aim 2: Foster understanding of principles of viral immune evasion. By bringing together researchers from different viral systems in a program organized around concepts rather than viral families we seek to foster understanding of general principles. This should also clarify the important issue of what aspects of viral immune evasion are critical for the future of research in the area. Specific Aim 3: Provide an exciting environment for trainees and junior faculty. By providing a poster session and an opportunity for selected junior investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and students to present their work during the plenary sessions, we hope to heavily involve junior members of the community in the meeting. This should foster their career development.